Commander Shepard (first name undefined) was the first human Spectre and commanding officer of the first and second Normandy in the Mass Effect video games. Shepard prevented an invasion of the galaxy by the Reapers and stopped the Reapers' minions, the Collectors, from harvesting the human race.

History

The player can choose one of three childhood backgrounds and one of three service backgrounds for Shepard. As a child, Shepard either...

All these childhoods lead to Shepard enlisting in the Systems Alliance Navy at the age of eighteen and being trained in the N7 program, the Systems Alliance's most elite special forces.

After that, one of three things happened to Shepard.

Shepard was on shore leave on the planet Elysium when it fell under attack by an assortment of pirates and raiders from the lawless Terminus Systems, a battle later known as the Skyllian Blitz. Despite being caught off-guard, Shepard managed to hold off an entire platoon of attackers singlehandedly, earning the Star of Terra medal afterward.

Shepard was in command of a strike team on the pirate base of Torfin in retaliation for the Skyllian Blitz. Despite heavy casualties, Shepard pushed the team deep into the enemy base, eradicating the pirates.

Shepard was traveling with a marine unit on the planet Akuze when they were attacked by several monstrous worm-like creatures called Thresher Maws. Shepard's whole unit was presumed to be wiped out, and only Shepard survived.

Shepard's background drew the attention of Systems Alliance higher-ups to push Shepard forward as the candidate to be the first human SPECTRE, an elite agent of the Citadel Council.